Rigid
Boom System RB400
Oil Ltd’s
Rigid Boom System was
designed to contain an oil
spill and improve on
tow/trawling speeds when
collecting a slick. Only
one place in the world
provides a safe and
controlled facility for
conducting full-scale tests
with oil – the Oil and
Hazardous Materials
Simulated Environmental Test
Tank (OHMSETT), US Naval
Weapons Base Earle, New
Jersey, USA.
Most
conventional booms have
flexible skirts that lift in
response to sideways
pressure enabling oil to
escape. The RB400 System
comprises interlocking self
buoyant booms with a rigid
panel extending 400mm below
the water surface and 200mm
above water level. Each
section is 1500mm in length
enabling virtually any
length of boom containment
to be deployed rapidly.
In one
test at OHMSETT 19 sections
were deployed to a total
circumference of 28.5 metres
encompassing a spill of 350
US gallons of crude oil with
a measured oil depth of
19mm. The booms were then
drawn together compacting
the oil into a containment
area of just three boom
units. At this point the
measured oil depth was 190mm
significantly enhancing the
process of removing the
spill even utilising
conventional skimmers.
The
RB400s performed well during
a variety of trawl tests in
a U formation. Typically
first loss was observed at
about 1.1knot. In the final
test to evaluate at what
speed the system would fail,
plane out of the water, or
submerge, a tow speed of
3knots was achieved before
water began to splash over
the sections.
The RB400
is designed for use in
rivers, estuaries, harbours,
marinas and other inland
waterways where conditions
remain well below those
simulated for the OHMSETT
tests. Development is now
underway of the RB800 and
RB1200 systems that should
cope with most sea
conditions and would be
suitable for screening
during ship to ship
transfers of oil.
The
RB400 System will be shown
by Oil Ltd at Spill06 and
Interspill from 21-23 March
at ExCel, London. For more
information go to
www.spill06.co.uk
and
www.ukspill.org.
The scale of the test
facility in New Jersey can
be seen by visiting
www.ohmsett.com. |
